Social Security Disability: After The Application

So you filed your application for social security disability benefits? That was easy enough. But don’t get lulled into thinking you are going to be able to easily sail through the disability process from there.

Resistance

As a Pennsylvania social security disability attorney, I have represented hundreds of disabled folks who come to me from Lancaster and York and surrounding counties. They frequently are quite mystified by the fact that they are met with resistance at their hearing. Resistance?! How can that be, when everything seemed to be going so well before then?

Well, for one thing, the Social Security Administration is generally unable to give focused attention to your case prior to the hearing. With applications up, and cutbacks in full force at the Social Security Administration, no one is really looking at your case, for all intents and purposes until very close to the time of the hearing – typically only days before the hearing. It is only at the hearing that the Social Security Administration really starts to focus on your case in most instances.

That being the case, it is only at the hearing that you are finally pressed as to where the medical evidence and support is for your claim, as to why you answered certain questions on the application and other filings the way you did, etc. And, it is only then, at the hearing, that you finally realize that having to deal with a Judge is not as easy as it you thought it was going to be when you filed your claim alone.

Only at the hearing do you realize that the Social Security Administration has not been actively working on your file to get all the information and evidence it can to support your claim. In fact, you might even be lulled into a false sense of believing that getting social security disability benefits is easy – after all, the news media says it is.

Be Prepared

My recommendation is that if you have a social security disability case in Pennsylvania, do not wait until the hearing to get ready. The time to begin preparing for your disability hearing is the day after you file your claim, and in some cases, preparation begins even before then. The Pennsylvania social security disability attorneys at Trinity Law will help you prepare your case from day one. Contact us now for help.